22 June 2008

Of video and the written word

If you send me to a website on which there is little or nothing but a video clip, the odds are very, very, very, very, very high I will not play it.

Only if you have also written text that tells me what is in it and put it in context as part of your message is there any chance at all I will click "play" on the video.

In fact, you had better just tell me in writing everything you want me to know, because even when you put that video in context, I'm still probably not going to click on it. Your video clip (or podcast, for that matter) needs to be in addition to, not instead of, written words.

This isn't about me approving or disapproving of the fact that apparently you are accepting (or maybe just assuming) that people no longer can or will read. I am not doing this as a form of protest or to send you a message. I'm telling you that if you want me to know what you want to tell me, then write it out.